Thanks to everyone for posting the videos. They will be something to look forward to when I return to Ireland after our Canadian adventure. Having our last day in Montreal before departing for Toronto. This has being one amazing week. Fulfilling a dream to see Leonard in his home town and seeing so many places which influenced his work.

Maarten wrote:Hi,
Great to hear "La Manic" by mr Cohen. He must have loved this song for years, check his acceptance speech for the Canadian Songwriters Hall Of Fame back in 2006:http://youtu.be/AS2qxBvEP10

The reference to La Manic starts around 2.45, if you manage to get to that point without letting a tear roll down your cheeck...

All kneeling. As did Leonard Cohen himself Wednesday repeatedly during his show at the Bell Centre. This is the least that the 12, 562 fans who attended the exceptional singing tour of the Montreal poet should do. Hallejujah!, It was the taste added.

By Philippe Rezzonico

Grand reunion, therefore, between the legendary Leonard and an audience that was waiting for this for a trio of performances offered in 2008 at the Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier. Certainly not by the grandiose splendor. No. A curtain behind the scenes, the usual two screens at the Bell Centre on the sides and pretty Persian carpets on which Cohen knelt all night.

No less than 14 times, so I rely on my notebook notes. Almost as if the poet implored the earth, his audience, his loves and his gods in the same breath, which was sometimes the case when one considers that it interpreted during this marathon of two hours and 55 minutes .

This showed especially that Cohen was in optimal shape next to that of his tour of 2008-2010, during which turned his back had been hurt. Note that the champion Montreal resumed service after 15 years of absence from the scene in 2008.

The same ease

This time, it was evident that Cohen had regained its bearings. Hopping like a kid coming on stage, bowed to the ground singing with fervor (Everybody Knows), straight as an oak playing the guitar (Who By Fire), solemn, heart hat on, looking fabulous musicians deliver solos inspired and transcendent reciting poems subjugate assistance (A Thousand Kisses Deep): Cohen was imperial.

I do not know, moreover, if we ever saw a crowd gathered at the Bell Centre more than when the deep voice reciting Cohen A Thounsand Kisses Deep. Time seemed to have stopped. The scene looked like a large living room in the 1970s, had suddenly appeared to be the focal point of a church where the priest Leonard welcomed his flock.

Was referring to the place where he was linking "great battles" (hockey games) and "Voices" (spectacles), Cohen was able to vibrate the heartstrings of women during an irresistible Is not No Cure For Love and be excessively flirtatious with I'm Your Man.

On the merits, the tour Old Ideas was very similar to his return to full light. Number of essential corpus creation Cohen were placed approximately at the same place in the show, opening with the splendid Dance Me to the End of Love, middle of the road for the gigantic Tower of Song (this time in the second opening part) and last right First, We Take Manhattan, vitamin.

Arrangements concocted by bassist, bassist and musical director Roscoe Beck were a luminous beauty. Only variants: lack of saxophonist Dino Soldo for this tour has amended various colors and instrumental bridges. In Bird on The Wire, once, long final declined with a guitar solo and a saxophone. Wednesday, guitarist Mitch Watkins only was involved.

Beautiful integration

New titles Old Ideas were as popular as many classics: Darkness, with the opening of Hammond B-3 Neil Larsen was the thunder Anyhow, that featured the "slave" Leonard, exulted to Celtic fragrance, while Going Home, recall, helped Cohen ironic about it by referring to a type of "lazy bastard dressed in a suit."

With his deep voice, hearing and Cohen stirs desire. Photo courtesy of Sony.

Cohen is also known to be an excellent captain and team player. As head of the ship, he gave the floor to completely Sharon Robinson mesmerizes the Bell Centre in interpreting Alexandra Leaving and he did the same by allowing Webb Sisters (Hattie and Charley) lead us to heaven with a guitar, a harp and voice of an angel in It With Be Your Will.

Teammate, he shared perfectly In My Secret Life with Robinson - perhaps the most beautiful song ever - and the four voices come together beautifully to make us shudder with Waiting For a Miracle.

As we said above, sometimes the grand rendezvous was. Suzanne was huge, with giant shadows of Cohen and his musicians who reflected on the curtains. Hallejujah, as usual, led us to heaven. You should have seen the smile that Cohen during the ovation from the crowd ...

For its part, So Long Marianne caused a stampede of many women to the forefront. Maybe the song that was most readily interpreted by the audience.

Definition of the class, Cohen presented three times rather than splendid companions. All were meritorious, but the game of finesse to Javier Mas bandurria and laud him and Alexandru Bublitchi violin was exquisite.

Aptly named after the Closing Time, 28th title menu, Cohen filed his microphone to the ground, kneeling once more before us. And to give him his salvation, if not to its knees, we were all standing.

Extraordinary that it is me, me, still lost on my little pink cloud nine and not being a statistic person at all, and (unfortunately) not attending every concert to be able to compare, me, then, who is stressing here that Leonard Cohen had the elegancy to also give to fellow Montrealers an English première with Show me the place. I was so knocked out by the other gift that I just remember now, how I was pleased and delighted to hear it.

***
"He can love the shape of human beings, the fine and twisted shapes of the heart. It is good to have among us such men, such balancing monsters of love."